Ripple's Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, has publicly addressed comments made by Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long, who recently questioned the foundations and history of Ripple’s projects—including the XRP Ledger, the XRP token, and the newly launched stablecoin RLUSD.

In a recent podcast, Long expressed skepticism toward Ripple, claiming the company failed to fulfill its original mission of replacing traditional banking infrastructure, namely the SWIFT network. She further suggested that XRP had the characteristics of an initial coin offering (ICO) and criticized Ripple's decision to launch RLUSD on Ethereum instead of relying solely on the XRP Ledger.

🧵 Schwartz: We’re Open to Facts, Not Misinformation

David Schwartz quickly responded on social media platform X, stating that he’s always open to discussing "facts about Ripple, our RLUSD stablecoin, the XRP Ledger, and its native token XRP." He also referred readers to a post by XRPL validator @Vet_X0, which he described as a fact-based summary that sets the record straight.

❌ Not an ICO, Says XRPL Validator

Validator Vet (@Vet_X0) strongly refuted Long’s characterization of XRP as the product of an ICO. According to him, this claim reflects a serious misunderstanding of the project's origins. The XRP Ledger launched in 2012 with the full supply of 100 billion XRP tokens placed into a Genesis account. At that time, the tokens had no monetary value, were not publicly sold, and were not used to raise capital—therefore, not an ICO.

Vet pointed out that unlike Ethereum, which held a well-documented public ICO in 2014 and raised Bitcoin to fund its launch, XRP never underwent such a fundraising event.

🛠️ XRP Ledger Is Decentralized – Ripple Does Not Control It

Another of Long’s claims concerned the alleged centralization of the XRP Ledger. Vet countered that the ledger is an open-source protocol, freely accessible for anyone to run a validator or contribute to its development.

Today, the XRP Ledger operates across more than 1,000 nodes and over 100 active validators, including independent developers, universities, businesses, and financial institutions. Ripple does not own these validators and cannot unilaterally alter the network, eliminating the argument of centralization.

🌐 RLUSD: A Multichain Strategy, Not an Abandonment of XRPL

Long also criticized Ripple’s decision to issue RLUSD on both Ethereum and the XRP Ledger, suggesting it reflects a lack of confidence in Ripple’s own infrastructure.

Vet rejected that notion, stating that RLUSD’s multichain issuance is a deliberate strategy—not a departure from XRPL. Ethereum is being used as an additional platform to boost liquidity and reach a broader audience across multiple blockchain ecosystems.

🧩 XRP Ledger Has Always Been a Technological Leader

Vet also emphasized XRPL’s long-standing technical innovation. He noted that the XRP Ledger was the first blockchain to integrate a decentralized exchange (DEX) directly into its protocol. It also pioneered native asset tokenization without the need for smart contracts—setting it apart from competitors.

The XRP Ledger's development has never stagnated. Through community consensus, new features and enhancements continue to be added. The ecosystem benefits from a strong developer base, robust liquidity, and real-world financial integration—all of which are further enhanced by the launch of RLUSD.

#Ripple , #xrp , #RLUSD , #XRPL , #CryptoNews

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